Sela in Washington City Paper

[Anonymous]

Long story in Washington City Paper about Sela Public Charter School this week by Rachel Baye, who used to cover education for the Examiner. Click here to read if you haven't seen it yet.

[Anonymous]

It covers a lot of the same things people have discussed here, minus the vitriol, thankfully.

It does put into perspective, however, just how odd Sela really is. I think it will be an interesting ride for folks. Hopefully a good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It covers a lot of the same things people have discussed here, minus the vitriol, thankfully.

It does put into perspective, however, just how odd Sela really is. I think it will be an interesting ride for folks. Hopefully a good one.

Tons of vitriol, actually. Baye used to write for the Baltimore Jewish paper and clearly has some issues to work out - both in her writing and otherwise. Slimey treatment of their ED - I'm sure she will get a lot of hate mail from the gay community.

[Anonymous]

My child will be entering PreK 4. I hope he will do well as this will be his third language next to English and Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It covers a lot of the same things people have discussed here, minus the vitriol, thankfully.

It does put into perspective, however, just how odd Sela really is. I think it will be an interesting ride for folks. Hopefully a good one.

Tons of vitriol, actually. Baye used to write for the Baltimore Jewish paper and clearly has some issues to work out - both in her writing and otherwise. Slimey treatment of their ED - I'm sure she will get a lot of hate mail from the gay community.

PP here. I guess I meant less vitriol than DCUM. This place went bonkers on Sela a while back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

Ok, but even with what you say above, "important business language" is a serious stretch. No biggie though, hopefully Sela will be a great school and as you said, bilingualism is good for all kids, regardless of language, even if the utility of some languages is questionable, the effect on the developing brain has been shown to be positive for any bilingualism. I hope Sela kids and families have a great first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

Ok, but even with what you say above, "important business language" is a serious stretch. No biggie though, hopefully Sela will be a great school and as you said, bilingualism is good for all kids, regardless of language, even if the utility of some languages is questionable, the effect on the developing brain has been shown to be positive for any bilingualism. I hope Sela kids and families have a great first year.

Well, I think that was a quote from the article, I didn't make that claim. However, increasingly, I think the world is flat and languages that you might not deem important - can actually be important in business - I would put Scandinavian languages, Hebrew, Polish, Hungarian, Czech in that category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

Ok, but even with what you say above, "important business language" is a serious stretch. No biggie though, hopefully Sela will be a great school and as you said, bilingualism is good for all kids, regardless of language, even if the utility of some languages is questionable, the effect on the developing brain has been shown to be positive for any bilingualism. I hope Sela kids and families have a great first year.

Well, I think that was a quote from the article, I didn't make that claim. However, increasingly, I think the world is flat and languages that you might not deem important - can actually be important in business - I would put Scandinavian languages, Hebrew, Polish, Hungarian, Czech in that category.

But on the world stage, "important" is relative. There is NO way, when you look at the business conducted worldwide, and the languages it's conducted in, you can get away from Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, and French and Arabic as the only truly "Important" languages, in that those are the languages that either the most business is conducted in, or languages (like Arabic) where there is a huge market for those who speak the language fluently. None of the languages you mention even approach the use of the languages I just listed in their marketability, and marketability/use is really the only meaningful definition of "important languages" from a business perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

Ok, but even with what you say above, "important business language" is a serious stretch. No biggie though, hopefully Sela will be a great school and as you said, bilingualism is good for all kids, regardless of language, even if the utility of some languages is questionable, the effect on the developing brain has been shown to be positive for any bilingualism. I hope Sela kids and families have a great first year.

Well, I think that was a quote from the article, I didn't make that claim. However, increasingly, I think the world is flat and languages that you might not deem important - can actually be important in business - I would put Scandinavian languages, Hebrew, Polish, Hungarian, Czech in that category.

But on the world stage, "important" is relative. There is NO way, when you look at the business conducted worldwide, and the languages it's conducted in, you can get away from Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, and French and Arabic as the only truly "Important" languages, in that those are the languages that either the most business is conducted in, or languages (like Arabic) where there is a huge market for those who speak the language fluently. None of the languages you mention even approach the use of the languages I just listed in their marketability, and marketability/use is really the only meaningful definition of "important languages" from a business perspective.

Meant to write "from a worldwide business perspective. Obviously people in Sweden care about Swedish, and Swedish is important to business in/with Sweden (even though they also mostly speak English in international business).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vitriol aside, I have a sincere question: the parent who says she's excited for her son to learn "this important business language", on what basis does anyone consider Hebrew an "important business language", when almost all of the international business conducted by people who speak Hebrew is conducted in English? How is Hebrew an "important business language" in any way, unless you live in Isreal?

I work in NoVa and use French and Hebrew in business all of the time. People in France and Israel speak English, but language skills, are useful in business, regardless of whether or not the people you are speaking with could hypothetically answer you in English. I have a colleague studying Swedish for that very reason. Israel is a global business center, no question, and kudos to parents for realizing the importance of bilingualism.

Ok, but even with what you say above, "important business language" is a serious stretch. No biggie though, hopefully Sela will be a great school and as you said, bilingualism is good for all kids, regardless of language, even if the utility of some languages is questionable, the effect on the developing brain has been shown to be positive for any bilingualism. I hope Sela kids and families have a great first year.

Well, I think that was a quote from the article, I didn't make that claim. However, increasingly, I think the world is flat and languages that you might not deem important - can actually be important in business - I would put Scandinavian languages, Hebrew, Polish, Hungarian, Czech in that category.

But on the world stage, "important" is relative. There is NO way, when you look at the business conducted worldwide, and the languages it's conducted in, you can get away from Chinese, English, Russian, Spanish, and French and Arabic as the only truly "Important" languages, in that those are the languages that either the most business is conducted in, or languages (like Arabic) where there is a huge market for those who speak the language fluently. None of the languages you mention even approach the use of the languages I just listed in their marketability, and marketability/use is really the only meaningful definition of "important languages" from a business perspective.

Meant to write "from a worldwide business perspective. Obviously people in Sweden care about Swedish, and Swedish is important to business in/with Sweden (even though they also mostly speak English in international business).

Not true at all, particularly for people in science, engineering, and hi-tech - quite the opposite actually. Germany, Scandinavia, Israel - this is where a huge percent of R&D is happening.

[Anonymous]

I'm ready for the DC Vatican City Academy. While it teaches Latin and engages with the Vatican City culture: your child will learn about the lives of nuns from India, cardinals from Latin America, and the Swiss Guards. Math is taught through coverage of the Vatican Bank scandal! Catechistic topics are covered to gain an understanding of why Vatican citizens do what they do.

However, it is in no way a Catholic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child will be entering PreK 4. I hope he will do well as this will be his third language next to English and Spanish.

Sorry, but if your kids don't have real Spanish exposure at school they won't be able to read, write, and probably not even speak proper Spanish over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child will be entering PreK 4. I hope he will do well as this will be his third language next to English and Spanish.

Sorry, but if your kids don't have real Spanish exposure at school they won't be able to read, write, and probably not even speak proper Spanish over time.

+1. So funny some of these parents with bilingual, trilingual 3/4 yr olds. Yes, my snowflake is ready to add another language... Without consistent exposure, the language will be gone or so basic that they won't be able to speak it with any type of fluency.